Hailey Bieber, Nicola Peltz Beckham and making marriage your brand.

Marriage is a union of two people in the eyes of the law. That's it. Well, it was, until Hollywood decided it was also an excellent marketing strategy.

We've seen a spate of young couples leaning into the identity of 'husband' and 'wife' beyond the realms of a romantic title, and leveraging it to further their public profile. And it's been working for them. Like, magazine covers and million dollar brand partnerships kinda working for them.

Celebrities who have leveraged this marriage method include Hailey and Justin Bieber and, of course, the 'other' Beckhams: Nicola and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham. 

Listen to this episode of The Spill, discussing the Other Beckhams. Post continues after podcast. 

Common themes between these celebrity pairs include speedy engagements, lavish weddings and frequent displays of deep adoration. And because we're all about providing evidence of this, here's the timelines and receipts of each of those themes as presented by the Biebers and the Peltz Beckhams. 

Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber were spotted together and declared their love of one another, but never confirmed their exclusivity all through 2016, before a rather "dramatic" breakup. They then found their way back to each other in June 2018, and by the following month the two were engaged.

Cue the first of the gushy Instagram posts shared by Justin:

"Hailey I am soooo in love with everything about you! So committed to spending my life getting to know every single part of you loving you patiently and kindly," he wrote. "I promise to lead our family with honour and integrity letting Jesus through his Holy Spirit guide us in everything we do and every decision we make. My heart is COMPLETELY and FULLY YOURS and I will ALWAYS put you first! You are the love of my life Hailey Baldwin and I wouldn't want to spend it with anybody else."

Within two months, the pair were married at a civil ceremony at a New York City courthouse, but they saved their big bash party for a Bahamas wedding the following year. You might recognise the pictures and Hailey's iconic veil as the images went viral in milliseconds.

Justin and Hailey's wedding day. Image: Instagram and YouTube. 

But, of course, a picture is but only worth a thousand words. So the couple also shared their wedding day via a YouTube docuseries called Justin Bieber: Seasons. It was here that we got to see the wedding planning, nerves, excitement and vow exchange of the 24 and 21-year-old bride and groom. 

Since their second round of I Do's, the couple have remained a united front – celebrating their individual achievements and speaking often about their relationship. In fact, Hailey recently did an hour long podcast interview about her marriage with Justin and how their connection was impacted by his previous relationship with Selena Gomez.

Their 'content' and therefore their 'brand' is centred on their union. Without a doubt.  

Another couple replicating this formula is Nicola Peltz and Brooklyn Beckham – now known to the world as the Peltz Beckhams. 

Brooklyn is the eldest son of footballer David Beckham and Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and Nicola is the daughter of model Claudia Heffner Peltz and billionaire Nelson Peltz. Despite being bonafide 'nepo babies' the two didn't garner an A-list status individually, but they've clearly worked on changing that. And the plan has rolled out at breakneck speed. 

The couple started dating in early 2020 – going Instagram official in January. By July they were engaged.

"Two weeks ago I asked my soulmate to marry me and she said yes," Brooklyn gushed in an Instagram post announcing that he had proposed. "I am the luckiest man in the world. I promise to be the best husband and the best daddy one day. I love you baby xx."

Nicola shared the same engagement photo on her social media, writing: "You've made me the luckiest girl in the world. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life by your side. Your love is the most precious gift. I love you so so much baby."

While the pair took their time between their engagement and wedding, we can't help but think that's because of a small thing called COVID-19 and also perhaps because their 2022 wedding was bigger than the Met Gala and may have taken a team of 50 planners to pull together. 

Brooklyn and Nicola. Image: Vogue, Grazia and Instagram.

Since becoming Mr and Mrs, the pair have gone on to do more magazine interviews, videos and Instagram posts, sharing intimate details of their relationship. And by intimate we don't mean sexual, but instead mushy, romantic tidbits about just how much they adore each other and being married.

Just this week Nicola took part in the Vogue 'Handbag Essentials' video series – a format that usually encourages subtle beauty product promo rather than advertising a marriage. She pulled a custom label out of her purse, one printed with a love note from her to Brooklyn.

"So here is a fun fact about Brooklyn. He loves labels in your clothes, so if you ever see him fiddling in his shirt, it’s because he’s always playing with the label," Nicola explained in the video. "And so last year for Christmas I had a suitcase full of them customised for him, and they just had cute little notes on them."

The example label she conveniently had lingering in her handbag read as follows: 

"Rub for worries, but don’t worry because I’m always right here with you. I love you with all my heart baby and I promise we can get through anything together."

Once you scrape the cheese off this love note, what's left behind is a marketing push for the Peltz Beckham brand.

They want to build fans through their relationship, to be a source of inspiration and aspiration. They want to register in the cultural zeitgeist as the power couple. 

But the thing about power couples, is that by definition, they are meant to be two individuals with pre-existing power joining forces. Not two people of low levels of influence and fame, joining together and building a brand as a duo.

And that's what qualifies these Hollywood couples as a new breed. They are establishing their fame, power and influence as a pair – not as solo stars.

Watch David Beckham's birthday message for Brooklyn Beckham. Post continues after video.

But the danger with putting all their metaphorical eggs in one joint basket is that their brand can be decimated with a single scandal.

We've seen it with the likes of Ned from the Try Guys and Adam Levine – a certified 'Wife Guy'. 

If that term is new to you, here's a catch up: they are the famous men of Hollywood who use any and every opportunity to celebrate their spouse. Cute in theory and probably quite lovely for the woman on the receiving end of this boundless adoration, but one tinged with just a bit too much ick – because while it presents as praise for the wife, it's really screaming, 'Look how good of a husband I am'.

Think Ryan Reynolds and his endless banter trolling of Blake Lively, Will Smith and his jazz-hand-celebration of Jada Pinkett-Smith on the red carpet and, of course, Adam Levine and his soppy Instagram posts about Behati Prinsloo. 

Obviously that last one has taken a sour twist, with multiple cheating allegations levelled towards Adam that seem to overlap with when his wife was pregnant with their third child. This alleged scandal has unravelled the brand he built as the good guy, the wife guy – leaving him looking much more hypocritical as he falls from the height he clambered up to when establishing his image.

This could be the fate of young Hollywood couples that lean into the marriage brand method. 

Clearly we don't wish a bitter end on these pairs, but we can't help but feel nervous when looking at those who have walked the path before them. To us, it's the celebrity equivalent of getting a tattoo of your partner's name – romantic in the moment, but rather painful to undo.

Feature Image: Getty, Instagram, Vogue + Mamamia.